Shafiqul Rahman, the Amir of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, recently made a statement whose reverberations are being felt far beyond Bangladesh’s borders. He announced that if his party comes to power, working women will no longer have to work eight hours a day -- five hours will suffice.
And whatever income loss they incur from this reduced schedule will be compensated directly by government subsidies. Even women who choose not to work outside and instead dedicate their time to the home -- so-called homemakers -- will be officially recognized by the state and will receive government payments as well.
It is fair to assume that such a declaration, made publicly by the Jamaat chief, must have been discussed inside the party’s policymaking committees and received their approval. One can safely guess the proposal will also find a place in their election manifesto.
At first glance, this may appear to be a women-friendly proposal. After all, he is talking about direct cash transfers to a vulnerable segment of society -- an idea endorsed by many renowned economists around the world. Many argue that the socio-economically disadvantaged benefit the most when assistance comes as direct cash. There’s little debate there.
In neighbouring West Bengal, for example, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government has for several years been running the wildly popular “Lakshmir Bhandar” scheme, which deposits ₹1000 a month into the accounts of economically weak women, and ₹1200 into the accounts of those belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Whatever the political controversies surrounding it, the scheme has unquestionably delivered enormous electoral dividends for her. Many BJP-ruled states in India have effectively been forced to adopt similar models.
Listening to the Jamaat Amir, one gets the sense that his party too intends to follow the path Mamata Banerjee has charted. That in itself is not the issue. The real problem lies elsewhere.
If the goal is to transfer money to economically vulnerable women, so be it. But why slash working women’s hours to do so? What company will hire women once it learns that female employees cannot be asked to work more than five hours? Women already face barriers entering better-paid jobs; if you impose a five-hour ceiling, will the remaining three hours’ wages -- paid through government subsidies -- really make up the gap? In truth, this will only shrink the doorway through which women enter the workforce.
A BBC report notes that leading Bangladeshi economist Mustafizur Rahman has done a quick “back-of-the-envelope” calculation: To implement this policy in the garments sector alone, the government would need to pay Tk160 billion in subsidies every year. Is any government, once in power, realistically capable of bearing such a burden indefinitely?
This is why, at a protest in Dhaka’s Shahbagh after the Jamaat chief’s statement, the slogan: “Five hours? No -- eight! Who are you to decide?” resonated so strongly. Women are always the first to sense where the real dangers lie in their workplaces.
The World Bank’s statistics show that South Asia -- the region we live in -- has one of the lowest rates of female labour-force participation in the world (a mere 22–23%). Slightly higher than the Middle East (18%), yes -- but far lower than Africa or Latin America, and incomparable to ASEAN countries or China.
In a World Bank blog published on March 6, 2025, Martin Raiser wrote that although South Asian women have seen significant improvements over the past two decades -- higher education levels, lower child mortality, widespread access to mobile phones -- the doors to good jobs and meaningful economic opportunities remain firmly shut. The jobs women do secure are mostly in family-based agriculture or cottage industries, offering minimal earnings.
According to the same blog, 77% of men in South Asia are employed, compared with only 31% of women. And despite being more educated than they were 20-25 years ago, women’s chances of landing a job have not improved at all.
Add to this a crucial fact: More than three-quarters of South Asian students studying STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are male. In today’s tech-driven economy, this means women begin the race several steps behind.
Two years ago, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that even as India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country, female participation in its workforce continued to fall -- across both high-paid corporate jobs and low-paid work. Their case studies showed how Delhi-based media consultant Amanjeet Kaur and Punjab schoolteacher Roopi Singh were both forced to quit their jobs after marriage, and how impossible it has been for them to re-enter the workforce. Roopi Singh, who holds a master’s degree in political science, said she spends her days doing household work and must ask her husband even for small personal expenses.
And one cannot avoid mentioning Afghanistan. In the four and a half years since the Taliban’s return to power, Afghan women have all but vanished from public life. Women who, during the early 2000s, were building new lives with hope now silently wipe their tears within four walls. Meanwhile, world powers continue courting diplomatic ties with the Taliban.
Sohini Sarkar, who worked in conflict mitigation in Afghanistan for a US-based NGO, escaped to Delhi on the night Kabul fell on August 15, 2021. Speaking to the BBC shortly after her return, she said:
“Even through the pain of leaving Kabul, I must say this -- I see no reason to trust this so-called “new Taliban.”
“Our female colleagues -- who studied hard and worked for the last 20 years -- are the most devastated.
“Already we are hearing of women in Kandahar being killed for wearing fitted clothes; women in Herat being told to leave bank jobs and send male family members instead.
“The gains Afghan women made in education, employment, and basic rights over the last two decades are now under severe threat.
“On that sorrowful evening of August 15 in Kabul, that was my deepest grief.”
Today, years later, her fears have come true in every word -- yet the world remains silent.
Bangladesh once produced a near-fairy-tale rise of working women. Rural and urban, millions of women -- through sweat and sacrifice -- pulled the nation out of extreme poverty. Countless researchers have documented this.
Recent World Bank data shows that Bangladesh (44%) still outperforms India (33%) by a wide margin in female labour-force participation -- one-third higher, in fact -- despite India’s stronger democratic institutions.
I refuse to believe that Bangladesh’s working women would throw away this extraordinary achievement for the bait of any political party.
Dr Anindita Ghoshal is a Researcher and Professor at Diamond Harbour Women’s University in West Bengal.
